How Could We Have Been So Blind?
by Child of Dreams
Summary: They told us that this would happen. That very soon, millions of people would literally vanish into thin air. Toddlers screeching with laughter in their fathers' arms, unborn babies kicking in their mothers' wombs, all of them gone in less time than it takes for us to blink, in the twinkling of an eye. They warned us, but we didn't listen, and now it's too late. UNDER REVISION!
1. Prologue

**How Could We Have Been So Blind?**  
**By: WallWatcher33**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Holy Bible, nor, unfortunately, do I own the Left Behind series.  
I am merely borrowing temporary use of God's prophetic playground to deliver this urgent message before it's too late.  
However I have recently been informed that I do, in fact, own (and I kid you not!) the very first Bible + Left Behind Crossover fic to in existence (that is actually listed as such) on this site, so...yay?****  
****(shakes head sorrowfully)****  
****Really, people, I am truly disappointed.****  
****The Bible's been around for the past 2,000 years, the first book of the Left Behind series was written back in 1995, and FFN was founded three years later in 1998, yet I'm the first person who actually thinks to combine the two categories!****  
****(clucks tongue in mock-admonishment)****  
****So, so sad...**

**On another note, I would like to extend my sincere****_ (not!)_**** apologies to President Barack Obama for any disrespectful and/or slanderous comments that may be expressed in this story.**  
**While I do admit that certain remarks about our ****_esteemed _****president ****_may_**** (and most likely **_**will**_**) reflect my own opinions, they are not (in ****_any_**** way, shape **_**or **_**form) intended as a threat and therefore should not be treated as such.**  
**The same applies to the Catholic Church, along with its beliefs and traditions.**  
**Secondly, while I will be using specific dates for the Rapture in regards to this story, I am in no way setting, or attempting to set, any dates for the actual Rapture.**  
**The use of dates in this story is merely meant to help me express the very neccessary feeling of extreme imminence in regards to the Rapture's timing.**  
**And finally, in regards to the identity of the Antichrist, you may notice a certain similarity to the first name of Dr. Tim LaHaye's character, Nicolae Jetty Carpathia.**  
**Please note that I am not attempting to plagiarize from his work, but unfortunately for me, I experienced an **_**insane**_** amount of muse-to-authoress imagination-inspiration blockage while trying to come up with a full name for the Antichrist that would also coincide with the necessary numerological and gematrical calculations while also attempting to remain true to at least **_**one**_** of his theorized prophetic origins on the geographical world map.**  
**So, now that all of the**_** "legalities"**_** are out of the way, let the story begin!**

**Chapter One: Prologue**

_They told us that this was going to happen._  
_That very soon, in a split second, in the twinkling of an eye, the trumpet would sound and Christian believers around the world, along with all children who haven't yet reached the age of accountability, would be called up to meet Jesus in the air before spending the next seven years with Him in Heaven while those remaining on Earth, having waited too long to accept Christ's gift of salvation, would have to endure the horrors of the Tribulation._  
_But we didn't listen._

_We ignored their desperate pleas, scoffed at their urgent warnings and labeled them as freaks, Christian-do-gooders and religious nuts who believe in an unreachable, unknowable, nonexistent, invisible sky-fairy and are in desperate need of a reality check!_  
_But we were wrong, and now...now it's too late!_  
_The Son has come and we've been left behind..._

**A Message From The Authoress: This, my dears, is the revised version of How Could We Have Been So Blind, which I took down when I noticed some problems with the way the story seemed to be heading at that time.**  
**My biggest problem with the previous version of this story, however, was an apparent lack of interest on my readers' part that was, to be honest, a little hurtful.**  
**I am truly sorry for any offense this question may bring, but would it really kill you guys to review a chapter once you've finished reading it?**  
**Otherwise, I have no idea whether anybody other than me is even bothering to read this story!  
**

**Wishing Everyone A Very Happy Easter,  
WallWatcher33****  
**


	2. Andre, Rachel, Katie & Gabe

**A Message From the Authoress: It's exactly 4:50 A.M. right now, so good morning, my darlings!  
I'm so sorry for the six day wait, but I was banned from the internet until the day before Easter, and then I started my period four days ago, which tends to make me really sleepy all day every day until a day or two after it ends (it ended yesterday), not to mention the stomach cramps, owwww...  
Anyway, moving on!**

**Chapter Two: Andre, Rachel, Katie &amp; Gabe**

Thursday, November 27, 2014  
Jacksonville, FL

"Andre Luther King, get your greedy fingers out of your Aunt Penelope's sweet-potato pie!" a female voice rang out through the hallway.  
17 year old Andre turned around to see his mother standing in the doorway of his Grandmamma Josephine's kitchen with her hands on her hips, glaring at him in disapproval.  
"Sorry, Mama!" the 17 year old grinned unrepentantly, his dark brown eyes glinting with mischief.  
Rosalyn Dianna King, nee Parker just raised her eyebrows with an "Oh, really?" expression on her face before walking forward and giving her son a firm tap on the back of his head.  
"No you're not, boy, so don't bother trying to fake it!" she snorted and Andre gave a toothy grin, hugging her tightly.  
"Yes, Ma'am" he chuckled teasingly as his mother squeezed back just as hard.  
"I love you, baby!" she murmured gently.  
Andre smiled widely, his perfectly white teeth gleaming brightly.  
"I love you too, Mama!"

Saturday, January 20, 2015  
Sanderson, FL

Fifteen year old Rachel Elisabeth Morrison lay on her bed, propped up on her elbows with her right arm supporting her head and staring out her bedroom window at the setting sun while listening to the sounds of her six year old triplet brothers, Joshua, Jacob and Jason, happily demolishing their playroom for the twelfth time that month as her eleven year old sister, Riley, sang along, her voice loud and badly off-key, to an episode of Hannah Montana.  
She could see their adorable five year old neighbor, Carlie Jayde Andrews in her front yard across the street, playing with a motorized Disney Princess cart that she had received for Christmas.  
Rachel sighed.  
Everyone she knew had gotten at least one thing for Christmas that year.  
Everyone, that is, except her, her parents and siblings.  
Her father was a strict Atheist and utterly refused to even consider participating (or allowing his wife and children to participate) in anything that even remotely involved religion in any way, shape or form, including the Christian holidays of Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  
She had never even opened a Bible, never mind been to church!  
Once, when she was really little, maybe about three or four years old, a lady had knocked on their door, wanting to invite her parents to a weekly Bible Study session at a nearby church.  
Her father had shot that offer down very quickly, calling the lady a 'religious nutcase', along with some other not so nice names in the process.  
The lady hadn't come back.

Rachel sighed wistfully.  
Just once, she wished she could experience the same holidays that all of her friends seemed to take for granted.  
Just once...

Sunday, March 8, 2015  
Glen St. Mary, FL

Kaitlyn Nicole Bennett fidgeted slightly in her seat in the center of the fourth pew on the left.  
Why had Mom dragged her here?  
Honestly, she was twelve years old today, she was far too old to be believing in religious nonsense like this!  
Their 68 year old senior pastor, Brother Earl Harrison Campbell, walked up the steps to the platform and it was all Katie could do to keep from rolling her eyes.  
_"Freak!" _a boy's voice said quietly in the back of her mind, accompanied by an image of Brother Earl holding a Bible with a sign glued to the seat of his pants bearing the words _'RELIGION IS FOR FOOLS!'_ written in large capital letters and Katie gave a mental snort of agreement before squeezing her brother's hand gently as Brother Earl began to speak.

"The Bible tells us that one day, millions of people all over the world will disappear from the face of the earth in less time than it takes for us to blink.  
It says in **1 Corinthians 15:50-58_,_** _**"****_Now_ this I say, brethren****, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.**_  
_**Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,  
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.  
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.  
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.  
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?  
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.  
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."**_

The trumpet of God will sound and every true Christian believer up to that point in time will be called up to meet Jesus in the clouds.  
As Paul tells us in **1 Thessalonians 4:16,** _**"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:**_  
_**Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  
Wherefore comfort one another with these words."**_

There is no telling exactly when the Rapture will happen, however everyone has a different opinion on its timing.  
Pre-Tribulationists believe that it will happen before the Tribulation, Mid-Tribulationists say that it will happen in the middle of the Tribulation and Post-Tribulationists say that it won't happen until the end of the Tribulation, at the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Personally, I hold with the Pre-Tribulation view.  
First comes the Rapture, then the seven year Tribulation and finally, the Second Coming.  
For it tells us in **Matthew 24:36-44**, _**"But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.**_  
_**But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.  
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,  
And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.  
Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.  
Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.  
Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.  
But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.  
****Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man ****cometh****."**_

There simply cannot be a Rapture surprise if you know it's coming at the mid-point or end of the Tribulation.  
**Matthew 24:44 **states_**: "'****_Therefore _be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man ****cometh****.'"**_  
Therefore, in order for the Rapture to be a surprise, it must take place before the Tribulation starts.  
It would be preposterous to even attempt to apply this to any other view.  
During the final years of the Tribulation, two-thirds of mankind will be dead from the various judgments and the Church will be under constant threat from the Antichrist.  
In all this carnage, I simply cannot imagine believers being oblivious to the nearness of the Lord's return.  
Therefore, a Pre-Trib Rapture is the only position that even remotely makes sense.

One thing we do know, however, is that there is nothing left on the prophetic calendar that must occur before Jesus comes from Heaven with a shout and a trumpet blast to gather believers from all over the globe.  
The Scriptures tell us to live in light of His imminent return and to conduct ourselves as if it could be today.  
And yet, God in His mercy might wait one more day, which, in His economy of time, is a thousand years.  
My faith would not be shaken if He tarried past my death.  
But it behooves us to know what it means to live as if He could return today.

He will not return to the earth this time, but rather He will appear in the clouds.  
And the dead in Christ shall rise first, and then we who remain shall be snatched away in the twinkling of an eye, as the Bible puts it, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Oh, make no mistake, He will return and set foot on this earth again someday, but that is not the Rapture.  
That will be the Second Coming, 7 years after Antichrist signs a fake covenant with God's chosen people.  
Some teach that the seven years, known as the Tribulation, begins with the Rapture.  
However, I believe that it will begin with the signing of the peace treaty between Antichrist and Israel, which could take place anywhere from a few days after the Rapture to an entire year later.

Regardless, those who are raptured will enjoy seven years in the House of God with Christ, who has spent over 2, 000 years preparing that place for us, as it says in **John 14:1-3,** _**"'Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.**_  
**_In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.'"_  
**However, I must warn you that if you have not received Jesus as your Lord and Savior by the time the Rapture takes place, you WILL be left behind!

As I look out amongst you all, I think of those of you who still have yet to receive Christ.  
Not because you don't believe what the Bible teaches, but because you feel as if you don't deserve salvation, as if God Himself has abandoned you.  
I understand this feeling all too well.  
When I was a teenager, I struggled with this same problem.  
I had been raised in the church and all my life, I had heard about God's unconditional love for sinners and about Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.  
Yet for some unknown reason, I felt as though I was the exception, that God's love did not apply to me.  
I wanted so badly to receive Jesus, but I felt that I just didn't deserve salvation, that my sins, whether by thoughts or by actions, were too great.  
I told my mother about my fears and I would like to share with you now what she told me.

God loves you the way a mother loves her little child who comes home covered in mud.  
How does she love him?  
Whether he likes it or not, she hoses him off, then brings him inside and thoroughly cleans him in the tub.

That is the way God loves you.  
He doesn't love the mud and muck and manure, He loves YOU!  
True, the rest of the stuff has to go, but that has nothing to do with His love for you.  
You are not your sins.  
You are the person that God made to be His own son or daughter.

Are you distraught because you can't seem to stop sinning?  
First, you should understand that sin isn't dancing or smoking or cleaning the house on Saturday or Sunday.  
It's disobeying the rules he set for us to live by, as well as acting unkindly to others.  
God takes those things personally, so whenever you break one of the Ten Commandments or you don't help someone when you have the opportunity and resources to do so, you are sinning against Him.  
Whenever you give a cup of cold water to someone because they belong to Him, you are doing it for Him.  
God loves you because you're His, and because He knows what and who you are underneath the muck.  
You are beauty itself and He will not stop until every molecule, every atom of you SHINES!

The Bible tells us in **John 3:16-18,** _**"'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  
****For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.  
****He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.'"**_

God loves you for who you are, regardless of your sins.  
It doesn't matter what you may have done in the past, whether you were a thief, an international terrorist, or even a member of a Satanic cult.  
God's love for you is unconditional and will never end."

Katie was relieved when Brother Earl finished talking, but was confused by what happened next.  
Normally, there would be a closing prayer, during which the choir would remain on the platform for a final song as the rest of the congregation filed out of the sanctuary.  
But now, Brother Earl merely stepped away from the pulpit, descended the three steps from the platform and stood at floor level.  
He spread his arms out wide and said, "If there is anybody here in the congregation today who hasn't recieved Jesus and is ready to do so now, I ask you to please come forward!"

Then Katie did roll her eyes as people immediately flocked toward the altar from every corner of the sanctuary, coming forward in ones and twos and threes, and even groups of six or more, some weeping, some rushing, some kneeling, but all of them eager to receive Christ, to be ready for the Rapture regardless of when it occured.

Suddenly, Gabe nudged her shoulder and Katie turned her head slightly to see one of the church's deacons, Jonathan Brown leaning agaisnt a wall with an expression of slight boredom etched upon his face.  
His wife, Angela, was sitting at the piano, playing 'Amazing Grace' while their 8 year old daughter, Madison Hope, sat quietly in the center of the front row on the right-hand side, reading what appeared to be a copy of _**'My Book of Bible Stories'.**_  
She waited for him join the masses of people at the front to help Brother Earl counsel and pray and lead people to Christ, but instead, he seemed content to just stand in the shadows and watch.

On the way home, Gabe glanced worriedly at his sister.  
Katie was staring out the window, unusually silent.  
Nothing he did could get her to respond.  
It seemed that Brother Earl's sermon today had left a bigger impression than either of the twins had expected...


End file.
